Brecht De Poortere’s “Mango Fly” is a quick and masterful telling of losing one’s innocence. Besides the troubling realism contained in the opening line itself, you know the plot spells trouble when our young protagonist-narrator sums-up the family’s relationship with character Nepo by saying, “[w]e trusted him because he was handsome and strong as a gun.” If the narrative were a roller-coaster, this is the point at the highest part of the track just before you begin to feel the car tip over the edge. It’s a wild ride, but keep your eyes open.
Our young protagonist then grapples with a multi-layered struggle akin to successive loop-de-loops. Family discord. Adults misbehaving. A family friend betraying trust. And of course, the mango fly eggs, “…I flinched because it hurt and a larva burst underneath my skin.” And it’s not over.
This roller coaster gains momentum, pulling both the reader and protagonist through a dark tunnel, “[a] fever gripped my body, burning from the heart. Pustules of guilt grew, itched, and stung.” Everything must surface eventually. And surface it does. De Poortere crafts a conclusion sweet as honey that showcases the permanent change in our protagonist’s life.
Source: De Poortere, Brecht. “Mango Fly.” River & South Review, is. 10, Winter 2023, https://riverandsouth.com/mango-fly/.
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